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Monday, January 2, 2012

Before Devils center Adam Henrique got on the team bus today to go to Scotiabank Place for the team’s morning skate, he got a bit of good news from Lou Lamoriello.

The Devils GM informed Henrique he had been named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for December. Henrique, 21, had five goals and eight assists in 14 games in December.

“It’s not something I was thinking about at any point, but it’s always nice to get those things,” Henrique said. “It’s a nice personal accomplishment, but my focus is on the team and doing whatever I can to help the team win every night.”

No money, gift or even a plaque comes with winning the award. In Henrique’s case, all he got was a hearty handshake from the GM and some kind words from his coach and teammates.

“Lou said, ‘Congratulations, you deserve it, but you don’t get anything for it’,” Henrique said.

“It’s great,” Devils coach Pete DeBoer said of Henrique winning rookie of the month. “Actually, Lou told me about it, we were outside the bus before we came up here, so we both congratulated him and told him, ‘That’s great, but we’ve got a lot of work left to do.’ You want to keep young guys grounded like that, but (it’s) well deserved. He’s been a big part of our success this year.”

Henrique’s accomplishments might not seem like as big of a surprise now because he’s been producing for more than two months, but it’s worth reminding that he was sent down to Albany after playing in only two games. It took an unfortunate break of Jacob Josefson’s right clavicle for Henrique to get his break with a recall from the AHL on Oct. 22.

Now, the 2008 third-round draft pick is centering the team’s top line with Zach Parise and Ilya Kovlachuk on his wings and ranks second in scoring among NHL rookies with 28 points in 34 games (10 goals, 18 assists)

“I didn’t foresee that,” DeBoer admitted. “I can tell you people in the organization had a lot of confidence in him as a player. I didn’t see that in training camp and those decisions (to send Henrique down) were based really on how his camp went, but to his credit he came back and he’s been outstanding. With the injuries we’ve dealt with at center ice, I don’t know where we’d be without him.”

Henrique’s linemates were happy for him.

“It’s definitely a good thing for your confidence when you get recognized like that,” Parise said. “He deserves it. He’s played well. He’s earned it. He’s taken advantage of an opportunity. He started out in Albany. It’s a pretty good story. He’s really taken advantage of it and, hopefully, he just keeps getting better, which I think he will.”

About

TOM GULITTI has covered the New Jersey Devils for The Record since 2002. Prior to that, he covered the New York Rangers for four years. Gulitti joined The Record in 1998 after six years at The North Jersey Herald News. He graduated from Binghamton University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric-Literature.